EA on FIFA: "Just Copy PES"

Service is Really Where Our Games Are Today

So, how did the FIFA franchise go from League 2 mid-table tedium to Premier League challenger - or some would say, winner? Easy, it wasn't PES.

EA Sports' vice-president Andrew Wilson explains, "I can remember at that time when I got offered the job I asked some friend of mine 'should I take this job?' Because FIFA wasn't liked outside the company, and wasn't liked inside the company. Because we weren't, as a company, building a great game." Hold on, that's not a good start.

He continues, "The easiest thing that could have been done and certainly what a lot of people were telling us was 'Pro Evolution Soccer is a great game, just copy them and then you'll win on marketing! It's a sure fire way to win.' That just wasn't that interesting to us."

Who would have thought it? Good news that EA Sports went its own way then. So, what's next? "This concept of service is really where our games are today, and certainly the strategy for our games in the future," says Wilson.

According to Gi.biz's Rachel Weber, Wilson means that "any game without some form of connected play is 'dead media', and that gamers demand something more, be it online play that reacts to changes in the real world, such as EA Sports Football Club, or play on other devices that brings incentives in console games."

So, yes, services. Forget playing a game of local FIFA with your mates when you come back from the pub. It's all about playing a game of FIFA with your mate in Melbourne... only she'll probably be at work.